Dynamic switching of user equipment power class

ABSTRACT

A user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone, may support multiple power classes. Power classes can define maximum output power levels for uplink transmissions. A base station of a radio access network (RAN) can, based on metrics reported by the UE, dynamically instruct the UE to switch to using a different power class. For example, the base station may instruct the UE to switch from using a first power class with a higher maximum output power to using a second power class with a lower maximum output power, in order to preserve battery life of the UE in situations in which the second power class provides sufficient output power for uplink transmissions to reach the base station.

BACKGROUND

In a telecommunication network, a user equipment (UE) can wirelesslyconnect to a base station in order to engage in voice calls, videocalls, data transfers, or other types of communications. For example, amobile device, such as a smart phone, can wirelessly connect to a gNB orother base station of a radio access network (RAN) to access thetelecommunication network.

UEs can operate according to different power classes that are associatedwith different output power levels for transmissions. For example, 3GPPdefines various power classes, including Power Class 3, Power Class 2,and Power Class 1.5, that define maximum output power levels for uplinktransmissions. Accordingly, a UE may transmit uplink data to a basestation of the RAN according to a particular power class.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items or features.

FIG. 1 shows an example network environment in which a UE can connect toa telecommunication network.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a radio frame that can include a power classchange indicator.

FIG. 3 show an example of metrics and other data that can be included ina UE report sent by the UE to a RAN.

FIG. 4 shows an example of system architecture for the UE.

FIG. 5 shows an example system architecture for a base station.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method by which a power classswitcher can dynamically determine a power class for the UE.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a computing device that is configured togenerate and provide a power class switcher configuration to the powerclass switcher.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A UE can support multiple power classes. A power class can define amaximum output power, such as a maximum output power for uplinktransmissions from the UE to a RAN. For example, 3GPP Power Class 3allows uplink transmissions at up to an output power of 23 decibelsrelative to one milliwatt (dBm). 3GPP Power Class 2 allows uplinktransmissions at up to an output power of 26 dBm. 3GPP Power Class 1.5allows uplink transmissions at up to an output power of 29 dBm.

In some situations, transmitting at higher output power levels can havebenefits relative to transmitting at lower output power levels. Forinstance, if a UE uses Power Class 1.5 to transmit uplink signals at upto 29 dBm, the uplink signals may propagate farther and/or through morebarriers than uplink signals transmitted at up to 26 dBm according toPower Class 2. In some examples, using Power Class 1.5 may also resultin higher uplink data transmission rates than could be achieved usingPower Class 2.

However, in some situations, transmitting at higher output power levelscan also have drawbacks relative to transmitting at lower output powerlevels. For instance, transmitting at higher output power levels cancause a UE to consume more power than transmitting at lower output powerlevels, and thereby cause the UE to drain its battery more quicklyand/or cause the UE to generate more heat. Accordingly, in somesituations, a UE that uses Power Class 1.5 may need to be recharged moreoften, and/or may have a higher risk of overheating, than a UE that usesPower Class 2.

In some systems, if a UE supports multiple power classes, the UE may beconfigured to select one of those power classes according to a maximumoutput power allowed by the RAN. For example, if a base station of theRAN indicates that the highest allowed output power for uplinktransmissions in a cell is 29 dBm, and the UE supports Power Class 1.5,the UE may use Power Class 1.5 to perform all uplink transmissions atoutput power levels of up to 29 dBm to while the UE is connected to thatbase station.

However, such systems in which a UE statically selects a single powerclass, based on a maximum output power allowed by the RAN, can cause theUE to consume more power than may be necessary in situations in whichbenefits of the increased power consumption may not be apparent to theUE or to a user of the UE. For instance, using a higher uplink outputpower in situations in which a lower output power would suffice maydrain the UE's battery more quickly, cause the UE to generate more heatand potentially risk overheating or damaging the battery, and/orotherwise negatively impact the UE. Accordingly, there may be drawbacksto statically using the highest allowable output power that is permittedby the RAN.

As an example, as noted above, a UE may statically select Power Class1.5 because a base station indicates that uplink transmissions arepermitted in a cell at output power levels of up to 29 dBm. However, ifthe UE is located at a position in the cell that is relatively close tothe base station, the UE is unlikely to benefit from a larger signalpropagation range that Power Class 1.5 may provide over Power Class 2.Based on the position of the UE, the smaller signal propagation rangeassociated with Power Class 2 may be sufficient for uplink signals sentby the UE to reach the base station. Accordingly, in this situation, theUE statically using Power Class 1.5 instead of Power Class 2 may notprovide appreciable advantages to the UE, or to a user of the UE.However, the UE statically using Power Class 1.5 instead of Power Class2 may lead to appreciable disadvantages caused by higher powerconsumption rates, such as decreased battery life and/or increased heatgeneration.

The systems and methods described herein can allow a base station, orother element of the RAN, to dynamically change the power class used bya UE, based on metrics reported by the UE and/or other data. Forexample, if the base station determines that the UE may benefit fromtransmitting at higher output power levels, the base station mayinstruct the UE to use Power Class 1.5. However, if the base stationlater determines that the UE would benefit from transmitting at loweroutput power levels, for instance to save battery life and/or togenerate less heat, the base station may instruct the UE to switch tousing Power Class 2 instead of Power Class 1.5.

FIG. 1 shows an example network environment 100 in which a UE 102 canconnect to a telecommunication network to engage in communicationsessions for voice calls, video calls, messaging, data transfers, and/orany other type of communication. The telecommunication network caninclude at least one radio access network (RAN) 104. The UE 102 canwirelessly connect to a base station or other access point of the RAN104. The telecommunication network can also include at least one corenetwork 106 linked to the RAN 104, such that the UE 102 can access thecore network 106 via a connection to the RAN 104.

The UE 102, the RAN 104, and/or the core network 106 can be compatiblewith one or more types of radio access technologies, wireless accesstechnologies, protocols, and/or standards. For example, the UE 102, theRAN 104, and/or the core network 106 can be compatible with fifthgeneration (5G) New Radio (NR) technology, Long-Term Evolution (LTE)/LTEAdvanced technology, other fourth generation (4G) technology, High-SpeedData Packet Access (HSDPA)/Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+)technology, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)technology, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology, WiMax® technology,WiFi® technology, and/or any other previous or future generation ofradio access technology or wireless access technology.

In some examples, the RAN 104 and/or the core network 106 may be basedon LTE technology. For instance, the RAN 104 may be an LTE accessnetwork known as an Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN), and can include one or more LTE base stations known asevolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network 106 may also be an LTE packetcore network, known as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In other examples,the RAN 104 and/or the core network 106 may be based on 5G technology.For example, the RAN 104 may be a 5G access network that includes one ormore 5G base stations knowns as gNBs, and the core network 106 may be a5G core network.

In some examples, the RAN 104 and the core network 106 may be based onthe same radio access technology. However, in other examples, the RAN104 and the core network 106 may be based on different radio accesstechnologies. For instance, in some examples a 5G access network may belinked to an LTE core network, or an LTE access network may be linked toa 5G core network.

The UE 102 can be any device that can wirelessly connect to thetelecommunication network. In some examples, the UE 102 can be a mobilephone, such as a smart phone or other cellular phone. In other examples,the UE 102 can be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, atablet computer, a gaming device, a smart watch, a hotspot, a personalcomputer (PC) such as a laptop, desktop, or workstation, or any othertype of computing or communication device.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the UE 102 can have a battery 108, a temperaturesensor 110, and one or more transmission interfaces 112. The UE 102 canalso support multiple power classes 114, and at any point in time canoperate according to a power class selected from the multiple powerclasses 114 supported by the UE 102. As will be discussed further below,a base station such as a gNB or eNB, or another element of the RAN 104,can include a power class switcher 116 that is configured to dynamicallydetermine which one of the power classes 114 the UE 102 should use.Based on a power class determination by the power class switcher 116,the RAN 104 can transmit a power class change indicator 118 to the UE102. The power class change indicator 118 may identify a specific powerclass the UE 102 should use, or instruct the UE 102 to change from usinga current power class to using a different power class. The power classchange indicator 118 provided by the RAN 104 can accordingly cause theUE 102 to dynamically change a power class associated with thetransmission interfaces 112, for instance by changing a maximum outputpower for uplink transmissions. Other elements of the UE 102 areillustrated in greater detail in FIG. 4 , and are described in detailbelow with reference to that figure.

The battery 108 can store energy used to power functions of the UE 102.The battery 108 can be a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, a lithium-ionpolymer (LiPo) battery, a nickel cadmium (NiCd) battery, a nickel-metalhydride (NiMH) battery, or other type of battery. The battery 108 may berechargeable. For instance, the battery 108 can charge when the UE 102is connected to a wall outlet, a portable charger, or another externalpower source. However, operations of the UE 102 can also use energy andthus drain the battery 108, for instance when the battery 108 is notcharging.

In some examples, the UE 102 may include the temperature sensor 110. Thetemperature sensor 110 may be a thermocouple, thermistor, resistancetemperature detector (RTD), semiconductor-based integrated circuit,thermometer, and/or any other type of temperature sensor. Thetemperature sensor 110 may be configured to measure or derive theinternal temperature of the UE 102 or temperatures of one or moreindividual components of the UE 102, such as a temperature of thebattery 108, a temperature of a central processing unit (CPU) or otherprocessor, or a temperature of any other component of the UE 102. Insome examples, the UE 102 may have multiple temperature sensors, such asa CPU temperature sensor and a battery temperature sensor. In otherexamples, the UE 102 may lack a dedicated temperature sensor, but heatgenerated by the UE 102 may be estimated based on how quickly thebattery 108 drains and/or other UE power consumption metrics.

The transmission interfaces 112 of the UE 102 can be configured toestablish wireless connections with the RAN 104, and to perform uplinkand/or downlink data transmissions via the wireless connections. Forexamples, the transmission interfaces 112 can include radio interfaces,transceivers, modems, interfaces, antennas, and/or other components thatperform or assist in exchanging radio frequency (RF) communications withone or more base stations of the RAN 104. The transmission interfaces112 may be compatible with one or more radio access technologies, suchas 5G NR radio access technologies and/or LTE radio access technologies.

In some examples, the transmission interfaces 112 can establish a singleconnection with a base station of the RAN 104 for uplink transmissionsand/or downlink transmissions. In other examples, the transmissioninterfaces 112 can establish multiple connections with one or more basestations of the RAN 104 for uplink transmissions and/or downlinktransmissions. For example, the transmission interfaces 112 may havemultiple antennas, such that the UE 102 may use multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) techniques to exchange different data streamswith a base station via different antennas.

The UE 102 may be configured to operate according to any of two or morepower classes 114. A power class may indicate allowable power levelsand/or other power configurations for transmissions via the transmissioninterfaces 112, such as a maximum output power for uplink transmissions.

As an example, the UE 102 may be configured to operate according to twoor more of: 3GPP Power Class 1.5, 3GPP Power Class 2, or 3GPP PowerClass 3. Power Class 1.5 can permit uplink transmissions at up to 29dBm. Power Class 2 can permit uplink transmissions at up to 26 dBm.Power Class 3 can permit uplink transmissions at up to 23 dBm. Because adecibel is a logarithmic value, a 3 dBm increase in output power can beequivalent to doubling the output power. Accordingly, using Power Class2 may allow the UE 102 to double its uplink output power relative tousing Power Class 3. Similarly, using Power Class 1.5 may allow the UE102 to double its uplink output power relative to using Power Class 2.In some examples, the UE 102 can be considered a High-Power orHigh-Performance UE (HPUE) if the UE 102 is configured to use PowerClass 1.5 and/or Power Class 2.

Power Class 1.5 can allow MIMO dual transmission paths at 26 dBm each,for a total uplink transmission power of 29 dBm. Alternatively, PowerClass 1.5 may allow a single uplink transmission path at up to 29 dBm.In some examples, Power Class 1.5 may allow 25% duty cycle for uplinkactivity when uplink transmission power is at the maximum of 29 dBm.This can allow the UE 102 to stay below a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)limit. If the UE 102 approaches or exceeds the SAR limit, the UE 102 canuse additional maximum power reduction (AMPR) techniques to lower outputpower.

Power Class 2 can allow MIMO dual transmission paths at 23 dBm each, fora total uplink transmission power of 26 dBm. Alternatively, Power Class2 may allow a single uplink transmission path at up to 26 dBm. In someexamples, Power Class 2 may allow 50% duty cycle for uplink activitywhen uplink transmission power is at the maximum of 26 dBm, which mayallow the UE 102 stay below a SAR limit.

Some power classes 114 may be associated with specific duplexing modesand/or specific frequency bands. For instance, Power Class 3 may bedefined for use with LTE frequency bands that are associated withfrequency division duplexing (FDD) or time division duplexing (TDD).However, Power Class 2 and Power Class 1.5 may not be defined for usewith FDD frequency bands, and may instead be defined for use with TDDfrequency bands. For example, Power Class 1.5 may be defined for usewith 5G TDD frequency bands such as n40, n41, n77, n78, and n79.

The power class used by the UE 102 can affect signal quality, connectionreliability, signal propagation range, transmission rates, and/or othertransmission metrics. For example, transmitting at higher output powerlevels can allow signals to propagate farther, and/or more easily passthrough walls or other barriers, relative to transmitting at loweroutput power levels. In some situations, transmitting at higher outputpower levels may also result in higher uplink data transmission ratesthan could be achieved by transmitting at higher output power levels.Such benefits of transmitting at higher output power levels instead oflower output power levels may be appreciated by a user of the UE 102,and thus offer an improved user experience, as the user may perceivethat the UE 102 is able to connect to the telecommunication network morereliably and/or with higher data speeds.

However, the power class used by the UE 102 may also affect the powerconsumption of the UE 102. The power consumption of the UE 102 may inturn affect how quickly the battery 108 drains, and/or affect thetemperature of the UE 102. For example, as noted above, Power Class 1.5may use twice the uplink output power relative to Power Class 2.Accordingly, if the UE 102 uses Power Class 1.5, the battery 108 maydrain more quickly than if the UE 102 had used Power Class 2. Similarly,the temperature sensor 110 may indicate that the UE 102 generates moreheat when the UE 102 uses Power Class 1.5 relative to when the UE 102uses Power Class 2. The UE 102 may thus operate at higher temperatureswhen using Power Class 1.5 instead of Power Class 2, which may degradeoverall performance of the UE 102 and/or put the UE 102 at a higher riskof overheating. Such drawbacks of transmitting at higher output powerlevels may be appreciated by a user of the UE 102, and thus offer adegraded user experience, as the user may perceive that the battery 108of the UE 102 does not last as long between charges or that performanceof the UE 102 suffers overall at higher heat levels.

As such, a power class that allows a higher output power than anotherpower class may have advantages and disadvantages. For instance, PowerClass 1.5 may result in advantages relative to Power Class 2, such as alarger signal coverage area and/or higher uplink data transmissionspeeds. However, Power Class 1.5 may also have disadvantages relative toPower Class 2, such as increased power consumption or increased heatlevels at the UE 102.

In some situations, the advantages of a power class that allows a higheroutput power than another power class may outweigh the correspondingdisadvantages. However, in other situations, the disadvantages of thatpower class may outweigh its advantages. For instance, if the UE 102 islocated at a position that is relatively close to a gNB of the RAN 104,Power Class 2 may provide a sufficient signal propagation range foruplink transmissions to reach the gNB. In this situation, the UE 102 maynot benefit from an increased signal propagation range that Power Class1.5 may provide over Power Class 2. The UE 102 may also drain thebattery 108 more quickly, and/or generate more heat, due to the use ofPower Class 1.5 instead of Power Class 2, without any appreciable userexperience benefit or other benefit to the UE 102.

Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 of the RAN 104 can beconfigured to dynamically determine which power class the UE 102 shoulduse, and to provide a corresponding power class change indicator 118 tothe UE 102. The power class change indicator 118 may instruct the UE 102to use a specific power class, or instruct the UE 102 to switch from acurrent power class to a different power class.

The power class switcher 116 can store data indicating which set ofpower classes 114 the UE 102 supports. The power class switcher 116 mayuse UE capability data 120 provided by the UE 102 during an initialnetwork registration process, and/or at other times, to determine whichpower classes 114 the UE 102 supports. The UE capability data 120 can bea Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, or other type of message, thatindicates capabilities of the UE 102, including an indication of thepower classes 114 that the UE 102 supports. For example, when the UE 102registers with a gNB, the UE 102 can provide UE capability data 120 tothe gNB indicating that the UE 102 supports both Power Class 1.5 andPower Class 2.

In some examples, the UE 102 may be configured to, by default, initiallyselect a power class based on an output power limit that is broadcast bya base station of the RAN 104 to all UEs in range of that base station.For example, a gNB may broadcast a System Information Block #1 (SIB1),which may be received by any UE in range of the gNB. The broadcast SIB1may indicate a maximum allowable output power for uplink transmissionsin the cell. The UE 102 can, by default, select one of its supportedpower levels that corresponds to the maximum allowable output power.

For example, a SIB1 broadcast by a gNB may indicate that the gNB permitsuplink transmissions to be sent by UEs at output powers up to 29 dBm(corresponding to Power Class 1.5). In this example, if the UE 102supports both Power Class 1.5 and Power Class 2, the UE 102 mayinitially set itself to use Power Class 1.5 because Power Class 1.5 alsoallows uplink transmissions at up to 29 dBm.

A base station or other element of the RAN 104 may infer the power classused by the UE 102 upon initial network registration based on the outputpower limit broadcast by the RAN 104 and based on the UE capability data120 provided by the UE 102 to the RAN 104. For example, if a basestation is configured to broadcast a SIB1 indicating a 29 dBm outputpower limit, and the UE 102 provides UE capability data 120 duringnetwork registration with the base station that indicates that the UE102 supports both Power Class 1.5 and Power Class 2, the base stationcan determine that the UE 102 will initially use Power Class 1.5according to the SIM broadcast by the RAN 104. The base station maystore information tracking which power class the UE 102 is currentlyusing, and may initialize this tracking information based on the initialpower class inferred by the base station based on the output power limitbroadcast by the base station and the UE capability data 120.

After the UE 102 registers with a base station of the RAN 104, the UE102 can periodically or occasionally send a UE report 122 to the basestation, or other element of the RAN 104. The UE report 122 can be anRRC message, or other type of message, that indicates metrics and/orother information associated with the UE 102, as discussed further belowwith respect to FIG. 3 . In some examples, the UE report 122 can be anRRC message that includes UE Assistance Information.

The power class switcher 116 of the RAN 104 can evaluate one or moretypes of information in the UE report 122, and/or other informationassociated with other connected UEs or the cell overall, and determinewhether the UE 102 should change from its current power class to adifferent power class. If the power class switcher 116 does determinethat the UE 102 should change to a different power class, the powerclass switcher 116 can cause the base station, or other RAN element, tosend the power class change indicator 118 to the UE 102. The RAN 104 mayalso update information that tracks which power class the UE 102 isusing, based on the power class change indicator 118 sent to the UE 102.

In some examples, the power class change indicator 118 can be sent bythe RAN 104 to the UE 102 as an RRC reconfiguration message, or othertype of message. For example, a gNB can send the UE 102 an RRCreconfiguration message that contains an instruction to use a specificpower class, or that contains an instruction to switch from a currentpower class to a different power class.

As a non-limiting example, the UE 102 may have reported to a gNB in UEcapability data 120 that the UE 102 supports both Power Class 1.5 andPower Class 2. The UE 102 may have initially started using Power Class1.5 based on a SIM broadcast by a gNB. However, the gNB may determine,based on a UE report 122 and/or other data, that the UE should changefrom using Power Class 1.5 to using Power Class 2. The gNB mayaccordingly send an RRC reconfiguration message that instructs the UE102 to switch from its current power class to a different power class.Accordingly, the UE 102 may follow the instruction in the RRCreconfiguration message, and dynamically switch from using Power Class1.5 to using Power Class 2. In this example, the RRC reconfigurationmessage may not directly indicate that the UE 102 should use Power Class2, but instead instruct the UE 102 to change between the two powerclasses it supports. Because the UE 102 was using Power Class 1.5, theRRC reconfiguration message may implicitly instruct the UE 102 todynamically change to using Power Class 2. However, in other examples,the RRC reconfiguration message may directly indicate that the UE 102should use a specific power class, such as Power Class 2.

In other examples, the power class change indicator 118 can be sent bythe RAN 104 to the UE 102 as information that can be interpreted by theUE 102 at the physical layer. Accordingly, the UE 102 may be able tointerpret the power class change indicator 118 at the physical layer,and/or initiate a corresponding change in the power class of the UE 102,more quickly than if the power class change indicator 118 were sent asan RRC reconfiguration message or other message that the UE 102interprets at an RRC layer or other protocol layer above the physicallayer.

For example, the power class change indicator 118 can be included by abase station, or other RAN element, in a radio frame 200, as shown inFIG. 2 . Accordingly, in some examples the UE 102 may locate, interpret,and/or follow the power class change indicator 118 at the physicallayer, without passing the power class change indicator 118 to an RRClayer or other higher protocol layer for interpretation.

The radio frame 200 can include a series of subframes 202. For example,the radio frame 200 can include ten subframes 202. An individualsubframe may include data in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)204. An individual subframe may also include other types of data, suchas data in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) 206 or a PhysicalUplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), depending on the type of subframe.

The PDCCH 204 may carry downlink control information (DCI). The DCI canindicate PDSCH transmission resource scheduling, PUSCH transmissionresource scheduling, slot format information, and/or other types ofinformation. For instance, if the PDCCH 204 includes a UE identifier 208of the UE 102, the UE 102 can use DCI to determine how to locate andinterpret downlink data for the UE 102 that is encoded in the PDSCH 206,how to encode and send uplink data in PUSCH of a subframe, or otherwisehow to interpret the structure of the radio frame 200. In some examples,the UE identifier 208 may be a cell-radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI) that is assigned to the UE 102 by a base station of the RAN 104when the UE 102 initially connects to the base station.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the base station can also include the power classchange indicator 118 in the PDCCH 204, in association with the UEidentifier 208 of the UE 102. The PDCCH 204 may include different UEidentifiers, and different corresponding power class change indicators,for different UEs that have registered with the base station.Accordingly, if the UE 102 receives the radio frame 200 and determinesat the physical layer that the UE identifier 208 of the UE 102 ispresent in the PDCCH 204, the UE 102 can identify and follow thecorresponding power class change indicator 118 associated with the UEidentifier 208 in the PDCCH 204.

In some examples, the power class change indicator 118 in the PDCCH 204may be expressed using a single bit. In these examples, one binary valuefor the bit may indicate that the UE 102 should continue using itscurrent power class, while the other binary value for the bit mayindicate that the UE 102 should change to another power class.

As a non-limiting example, the UE 102 may support both Power Class 1.5and Power Class 2. If the UE 102 is currently using Power Class 1.5, avalue of “0” for the power class change indicator 118 in the PDCCH 204may indicate that the UE should continue using Power Class 1.5. However,a value of “1” for the power class change indicator 116 in the PDCCH 204may indicate that the UE 102 should switch to using Power Class 2. Themeanings of these binary values can be reversed in some examples, suchthat a value of “0” instead indicates that the UE 102 should switch to adifferent power class, and a value of “1” indicates that the UE 102should continue using its current power class.

In other examples, the power class change indicator 118 in the PDCCH 204may be expressed using multiple bits. Different possible combinations ofvalues for the multiple bits of the power class change indicator 118 inthe PDCCH 204 may map to corresponding instructions regarding the powerclass of the UE 102, or map to specific corresponding power classes. Forexample, a value of “00” may indicate that the UE 102 should use PowerClass 3, a value of “01” may indicate that the UE 102 should use PowerClass 2, and a value of “10” may indicate that the UE 102 should usePower Class 1.5.

FIG. 3 show an example 300 of metrics and other data that can beincluded in the UE report 122 sent by the UE 102 to the RAN 104. The UEreport 122 can include one or more of: power data 302, temperature data304, radio condition data 306, uplink transmission data 308, or othertypes of information. As discussed above, the power class switcher 116can determine, based on information in the UE report 122 and/or otherdata, whether the UE 102 should change from its current power class to adifferent power class. If the power class switcher 116 does determinethat the UE 102 should change to a different power class, the powerclass switcher 116 can cause the RAN 104 to send the power class changeindicator 118 to the UE 102.

Power data 302 can include information about the power consumption ofthe UE 102. For example, the power data 302 may indicate rates at whichthe UE 102 has consumed power over one or more periods of time. Suchpower consumption rates may indicate how quickly the UE 102 is drainingthe battery 108. The power data 302 may also indicate current powerlevels of the battery 108, such as an indication of how much power isstored in the battery 108 and/or a current battery level relative to anoverall battery capacity. For instance, the power data 302 may indicatethat the battery 108 is currently charged to a level that is 75% full.In some examples, the power data 302 may also indicate power headroomlevels associated with the UE 102, such as a measure of how much poweris available for transmissions in addition to power currently being usedfor transmissions.

The power class switcher 116 may, in some situations, determine whetherto dynamically change the power class used by the UE 102 based in parton the power data 302 in the UE report 122. For example, the power classswitcher 116 may be configured with one or more battery power thresholdsthat correspond with one or more power classes 114. By way of anon-limiting example, if the power data 302 reported by the UE 102indicates that the battery 108 of the UE 102 is charged to above aparticular threshold, such as above 50%, the power class switcher 116may be configured to instruct the UE 102 to use Power Class 1.5.However, if the power data 302 reported by the UE 102 indicates that thebattery 108 of the UE 102 is charged to a level below the 50% threshold,the power class switcher 116 may be configured to instruct the UE 102 touse Power Class 2 in order to conserve battery life of the UE 102. Asanother non-limiting example, the power class switcher 116 may beconfigured to instruct the UE 102 to use Power Class 1.5 if the chargelevel of the battery 108 is above a first threshold, instruct the UE 102to use Power Class 2 if the charge level of the battery 108 is below asecond threshold, and use one or more other factors to select betweenPower Class 1.5 and Power Class 2 if the charge level of the battery 108is between the first threshold and the second threshold.

Temperature data 304 can, in some examples, include temperature databased on measurements taken by the temperature sensor 110, such astemperatures measurements associated with the battery 108, a CPU, and/orother components of the UE 102, and/or rates indicating how measuredtemperatures or amounts of heat generated by the UE 102 have beenincreasing or decreasing over time. In other examples, the temperaturedata 304 in the UE report 122 can be inferred or estimated based onpower consumption rates rather than temperature measurements associatedwith the temperature sensor 110. In still other examples, the UE report122 can omit temperature data 304, but the RAN 104 can infertemperatures and/or heat generation metrics associated with the UE 102based on power consumption rates or other power data 302 provided in theUE report 122.

The power class switcher 116 may, in some situations, determine whetherto dynamically change the power class used by the UE 102 based in parton the temperature data 304 included in the UE report 122 or determinedby the RAN 104 based on power data 302 in the UE report 122. Forexample, if the UE 102 is using Power Class 1.5, and the temperaturedata 304 indicates that the UE 102 is operating at a temperature above atemperature threshold, the power class switcher 116 may instruct the UE102 to switch to using Power Class 2 in order to decrease the powerconsumption of the UE 102 and thereby lower the operating temperature ofthe UE 102.

Radio condition data 306 can include metrics or other key performanceindicators (KPIs) associated with radio conditions associated with theUE 102. For example, the UE 102 may include, in the UE report 122,signal-to-interference-plus-noise (SINR) metrics, signal-to-noise (SNR)metrics, received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values, referencesignal received power (RSRP) values, reference signal received quality(RSRQ) values, and/or other signal quality or signal strength metricsmeasured by the UE 102. In some examples, one or more elements of theRAN 104 may separately measure or determine signal strength or signalquality metrics associated with transmissions between the RAN 104 andthe UE 102.

In some examples, the radio condition data 306 may indicate a locationof the UE 102 relative to a base station of the RAN 104. For example,the base station may determine that the UE 102 is at a near-cellposition relatively close to the base station if signal strength metricsare relatively strong, that the UE 102 is at a far-cell positionrelatively far away from the base station if signal strength metrics arerelatively weak, or that the UE 102 is at a mid-cell position if signalstrength metrics are in an intermediate range. In some examples, basestation or other RAN element can also, or alternately, determine anestimated location of the UE 102 based on Global Positioning System(GPS) coordinates included in the UE report 122, based on triangulationmethods, and/or any other location determination method.

In some examples, the radio condition data 306 may indicate whether theUE 102 is indoors or outdoors. For example, relatively poor signalstrength metrics may indicate that the UE 102 is inside a building, andwalls of the building are interfering with signal propagation.

The power class switcher 116 may, in some situations, determine whetherto dynamically change the power class used by the UE 102 based in parton the radio condition data 306 included in the UE report 122 and/ordetermined by the RAN 104. As an example, if the UE 102 is currentlyusing Power Class 1.5, and relatively strong signal strength and/orsignal quality metrics in the radio condition data 306 indicate that theUE 102 is likely outside and/or at a mid-cell or near-cell position, thepower class switcher 116 may determine that Power Class 2 would besufficient for uplink signals from the UE 102 to reach a base station.Accordingly, in order to preserve battery life of the UE 102 and/ordecrease the amount of heat produced by the UE 102, the power classswitcher 116 may transmit the power class change indicator 118 with avalue that instructs the UE 102 to dynamically change from using PowerClass 1.5 to using Power Class 2.

As another example, if the UE 102 is currently using Power Class 1.5,and relatively poor signal strength and/or signal quality metrics in theradio condition data 306 indicate that the UE 102 is likely insideand/or at a far-cell position, the power class switcher 116 maydetermine the UE 102 should continue using Power Class 1.5 to maintaincurrent chances of uplink signals reaching the base station. In thissituation, the power class switcher 116 may avoid transmitting the powerclass change indicator 118 to the UE 102 such that the UE 102 continuesto use Power Class 1.5, or may transmit the power class change indicator118 with a value that instructs the UE 102 to continue to use itscurrent power class.

However, if the UE 102 is instead currently using Power Class 2, and theradio condition data 306 indicates that the UE 102 is likely insideand/or at a far-cell position, the power class switcher 116 maydetermine that the UE 102 should instead use Power Class 1.5 to increasethe output power for of uplink transmissions and increase the likelihoodof uplink transmissions reaching the base station. Accordingly, in thissituation, the power class switcher 116 may transmit the power classchange indicator 118 to the UE 102 with a value that instructs the UE102 to dynamically change from using Power Class 2 to using Power Class1.5.

Uplink transmission data 308 can include metrics, KPIs, or other dataassociated with uplink transmissions that have been performed and/or areto be performed, by the UE 102. For example, uplink transmission data308 may indicate buffer fullness levels associated with pending uplinktransmissions. The uplink transmission data 308 may also indicateamounts and/or types of pending uplink data the UE 102 will betransmitting. For example, the uplink transmission data 308 may indicatethat the UE 102 will be transmitting a large upload file, and/orrelatively small heartbeat messages. In some examples, the uplinktransmission data 308 can also indicate throughput levels measured bythe UE 102. A base station or other RAN element may also, oralternately, measure or derive throughput levels associated with the UE102.

The power class switcher 116 may, in some situations, determine whetherto dynamically change the power class used by the UE 102 based in parton the uplink transmission data 308 included in the UE report 122 and/ordetermined by the RAN 104. As an example, the UE 102 may currently beusing Power Class 2, and uplink buffer fullness levels reported by theUE 102 in UE reports may indicate that the UE's uplink buffer iscontinuously full despite significantly uplink resources allocated bythe RAN 104 to the UE 102. In this situation, the power class switcher116 may determine that Power Class 1.5 could allow the UE 102 to usemore output power for uplink transmissions and transmit data from itsuplink buffer more quickly, thereby lowering the fullness level of theUE's uplink buffer and increasing uplink throughput from the UE 102overall. Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 may transmit thepower class change indicator 118 to the UE 102 to instruct the UE 102 todynamically change from using Power Class 2 to using Power Class 1.5.However, if the UE's buffer fullness level is below a buffer fullnessthreshold, the current uplink throughput associated with the UE may besufficient and the power class switcher 116 may determine that the UE102 should continue using Power Class 2.

In some examples, the power class switcher 116 can use UE reportsprovided by multiple UEs connected to a base station of the RAN 104,and/or other types of data, to determine overall metrics associated witha cell. For example, the power class switcher 116 may use SINR metricsor other interference metrics associated with a set of UEs in a cell todetermine an overall interference level within the cell. The power classswitcher 116 may be configured to determine power classes for differentUEs based on UE reports provided by the different UEs, and/or based onoverall cell metrics. For example, although a set of UEs may all belocated at near-cell positions, and the power class switcher 116 maydetermine that Power Class 2 would provide sufficient signal propagationranges for all of the near-cell UEs, the power class switcher 116 maydetermine that instructing all of the near-cell UEs to use Power Class 2would increase overall interference levels in the cell. Accordingly, thepower class switcher 116 may instruct some of the near-cell UEs to usePower Class 1.5 and other near-cell UEs to use Power Class 2, as the useof different power classes by different subsets of UEs may reduceoverall interference levels in the cell.

The power class switcher 116 may be configured to evaluate any or all ofthe factors described herein to dynamically determine which power classthe UE 102 should use, and/or whether to instruct the UE 102 to changeits power class. For example, if a SINR value reported in radiocondition data 306 indicates that the UE 102 may be indoors, and a powerheadroom value reported in power data 302 indicates that the UE 102 hassufficient power headroom to use Power Class 1.5, the power classswitcher 116 may instruct the UE 102 to change from using Power Class 2to using Power Class 1.5.

In some examples, the power class switcher 116 may evaluate differenttypes of factors against different thresholds to determine which powerclass the UE 102 should use, for instance as discussed below withrespect to FIG. 6 . In other examples, the power class switcher 116 mayassign different weights to different types of factors, and use aweighted combination of the factors to determine which power class theUE 102 should use. For instance, the power class switcher 116 may beconfigured to weight factors associated power data 302 and/ortemperature data 304 more heavily than factors associated with radiocondition data 306 and/or uplink transmission data 308. Accordingly,even if the power class switcher 116 determines from uplink transmissiondata 308 that the UE 102 may benefit from increased uplink throughput ifthe UE 102 changed from using Power Class 2 to Power Class 1.5, thepower class switcher 116 may weight power data 302 more heavily and maydetermine that the UE 102 should continue to use Power Class 2 becausePower Class 1.5 would increase the power consumption of the UE 102 anddrain the battery 108 too quickly. In some examples, factors evaluatedthe power class switcher 116, thresholds associated with the factors,the order in which the factors are evaluated, and/or weights assigned tothe factors can be determined by a machine learning model based onhistorical data, as discussed below with respect to FIG. 7 .

Overall, the power class switcher 116 can evaluate data in the UE report122 to dynamically determine whether the UE 102 should change powerclasses. The power class switcher 116 can use the power class changeindicator 118 to dynamically instruct the UE 102 to use a particularpower class selected by the power class switcher 116 from a set of powerclasses 114 noted by the UE 102 in the UE capability data 120.

In some examples, the power class switcher 116 can receive new UEreports from the UE 102 periodically or occasionally, and can alsodetermine whether to change the UE's power class on a periodic oroccasional basis. For example, if the power class switcher 116 isconfigured to provide power class change indicators in radio frames,such that a power class change indicator is interpretably the UE 102 ata physical layer as discussed above with respect to FIG. 2 , the powerclass switcher 116 may evaluate whether to include a power class changeindicator that instructs the UE 102 to change its power class withrespect to every radio frame transmitted by a base station, every tenradio frames transmitted by the base station, every hundred radio framestransmitted by the base station, or at any other interval.

In other examples in which the power class switcher 116 is configured toprovide power class change indicators in RRC reconfiguration messages orother higher-layer messages that the UE 102 may not be configured toprocess as quickly as physical layer information, the power classswitcher 116 may evaluate whether to send a power class change indicatorthat instructs the UE 102 to change its power class at the same orlonger intervals, such as with respect to every hundred radio framestransmitted by the base station, every two hundred radio framestransmitted by the base station, every five hundred radio framestransmitted by the base station, or at any other interval.

In some examples, the power class switcher 116 may evaluate whether tosend a power class change indicator that instructs the UE 102 to changeits power class at intervals selected based on data provided by the UE102 in UE reports. For example, if power data 302 reported by the UE 102indicates that the battery 108 is charged to above a threshold level,the power class switcher 116 may send power class change indicators thatcause the UE 102 to change its power class relatively frequency.However, if the power data 302 indicates that the battery 108 has acharge level below the threshold level, the power class switcher 116 maysend power class change indicators that cause the UE 102 to change itspower class less frequently to assist with preserving the battery lifeof the UE 102.

Although the power class switcher 116 can dynamically determine whetherthe UE 102 should change power classes as discussed above, in someexamples the UE 102 can be configured to limit which the set of powerclasses the power class switcher 116 can select from. For example, theUE 102 may support Power Class 1.5 and Power Class 2. However, if thebattery 108 of the UE 102 has a charge level under a defined thresholdwhen the UE 102 first registers with a base station, the UE 102 mayprovide UE capability data 120 during network registration indicatingthat the UE 102 only supports Power Class 2. By suppressing informationin the UE capability data 120 indicating that the UE 102 also supportsPower Class 1.5, the UE 102 can prevent the power class switcher 116from considering Power Class 1.5 as an option for the UE 102.Accordingly, in this situation the UE 102 may operate based on PowerClass 2 while connected to the base station due to the low charge levelof the battery 108, without the power class switcher 116 potentiallyinstructing the UE 102 to change to using Power Class 1.5 and thuspotentially causing the UE to consumer power at higher power consumptionlevels. Similarly, if the UE 102 is in an idle state and is not activelysending or receiving data, the UE 102 may also suppress information inthe UE capability data 120 indicating that the UE 102 also supportsPower Class 1.5 in addition to Power Class 2, such that the UE 102 canuse Power Class 2 while idle. However, if the UE 102 moves from the idlestate to an active state, the UE 102 may provide new UE capability data120 indicating that the UE 102 does support both Power Class 1.5 andPower Class 2, such that the power class switcher 116 can dynamicallyinstruct the UE 102 which of those power classes to use while the UE 102is in the active state.

FIG. 4 shows an example 400 of system architecture for the UE 102, inaccordance with various examples. The UE 102 can include the battery108, the temperature sensor 110, and the transmission interfaces 112discussed above. The UE 102 can also have at least one memory 402,processor(s) 404, a display 406, output devices 408, input devices 410,and/or a drive unit 412 including a machine readable medium 414.

As discussed above, the battery 108 can be a Li-ion battery, a LiPobattery, a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or other type of battery. Thetemperature sensor 110 can be a thermocouple, thermistor, RTD,semiconductor-based integrated circuit, thermometer, and/or any othertype of temperature sensor.

The transmission interfaces 112 can include transceivers, modems,interfaces, antennas, and/or other components that perform or assist inexchanging radio frequency (RF) communications with base stations of theRAN 104, a Wi-Fi access point, or otherwise implement connections withone or more networks. The transmission interfaces 112 can be compatiblewith one or more radio access technologies, such as 5G NR radio accesstechnologies and/or LTE radio access technologies.

The transmission interfaces 112 can also be configured to transmit dataaccording to a selected power class, as described herein. In someexamples, the transmission interfaces 112 can be configured to interpreta power class change indicator in a radio frame at a physical layer, anduse a power class indicated by the power class change indicator, asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 2 . In other examples, elements ofthe UE 102 above the physical layer can interpret a power class changeindicator received in another type of message, such as an RRCreconfiguration message, and can instruct the transmission interfaces112 to use the power class indicated by the power class changeindicator.

In various examples, the memory 402 can include system memory, which maybe volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory,etc.) or some combination of the two. The memory 402 can further includenon-transitory computer-readable media, such as volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Systemmemory, removable storage, and non-removable storage are all examples ofnon-transitory computer-readable media. Examples of non-transitorycomputer-readable media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other non-transitory medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by the UE 102. Any suchnon-transitory computer-readable media may be part of the UE 102.

The memory 402 can include one or more software or firmware elements,such as computer-readable instructions that are executable by the one ormore processors 404. For example, the memory 402 can storecomputer-executable instructions that cause the UE 102 to transmit UEcapability data 120 to the RAN 104, transmit the UE report 122 to theRAN 104, and/or interpret and implement the power class change indicator118. The memory 402 can also store other modules and data 416, which canbe utilized by the UE 102 to perform or enable performing any actiontaken by the UE 102. The other modules and data 416 can include a UEplatform, operating system, and applications, and data utilized by theplatform, operating system, and applications.

In various examples, the processor(s) 404 can be a CPU, a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or both CPU and GPU, or any other type ofprocessing unit. Each of the one or more processor(s) 404 may havenumerous arithmetic logic units (ALUs) that perform arithmetic andlogical operations, as well as one or more control units (CUs) thatextract instructions and stored content from processor cache memory, andthen executes these instructions by calling on the ALUs, as necessary,during program execution. The processor(s) 404 may also be responsiblefor executing all computer applications stored in the memory 402, whichcan be associated with common types of volatile (RAM) and/or nonvolatile(ROM) memory.

The display 406 can be a liquid crystal display or any other type ofdisplay commonly used in UEs. For example, the display 406 may be atouch-sensitive display screen, and can thus also act as an input deviceor keypad, such as for providing a soft-key keyboard, navigationbuttons, or any other type of input.

The output devices 408 can include any sort of output devices known inthe art, such as the display 406, speakers, a vibrating mechanism,and/or a tactile feedback mechanism. Output devices 408 can also includeports for one or more peripheral devices, such as headphones, peripheralspeakers, and/or a peripheral display.

The input devices 410 can include any sort of input devices known in theart. For example, input devices 410 can include a microphone, akeyboard/keypad, and/or a touch-sensitive display, such as thetouch-sensitive display screen described above. A keyboard/keypad can bea push button numeric dialing pad, a multi-key keyboard, or one or moreother types of keys or buttons, and can also include a joystick-likecontroller, designated navigation buttons, or any other type of inputmechanism.

The machine readable medium 414 can store one or more sets ofinstructions, such as software or firmware, that embodies any one ormore of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions can also reside, completely or at least partially, withinthe memory 402, processor(s) 404, and/or transmission interface(s) 112during execution thereof by the UE 102. The memory 402 and theprocessor(s) 404 also can constitute machine readable media 414.

FIG. 5 shows an example system architecture for a base station 500, inaccordance with various examples. In some examples, the base station 500may be a gNB, eNB, or other base station or network element in the RAN104. As shown, the base station 500 can include processor(s) 502, memory504, and transmission interfaces 506.

The processor(s) 502 may be a CPU or any other type of processing unit.Each of the one or more processor(s) 502 may have numerous ALUs thatperform arithmetic and logical operations, as well as one or more CUsthat extract instructions and stored content from processor cachememory, and then executes these instructions by calling on the ALUs, asnecessary, during program execution. The processor(s) 502 may also beresponsible for executing all computer-executable instructions and/orcomputer applications stored in the memory 504.

In various examples, the memory 504 can include system memory, which maybe volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory,etc.) or some combination of the two. The memory 504 can also includeadditional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) suchas, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Memory 504 canfurther include non-transitory computer-readable media, such as volatileand nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information, such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.System memory, removable storage, and non-removable storage are allexamples of non-transitory computer-readable media. Examples ofnon-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD,or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by the base station 500. Any suchnon-transitory computer-readable media may be part of the base station500.

The memory 504 can store computer-readable instructions and/or otherdata associated with operations of the base station 500. For example,the memory 504 can store UE power class data 508, UE reports 510, celldata 512, and the power class switcher 116.

The UE power class data 508 can indicate a set of power classes thateach UE registered with the base station 500 supports, based on UEcapability data reported by the UEs during network registration or atother times. For example, the UE power class data 508 may indicate thata first UE supports Power Class 1.5 and Power Class 2, such that thepower class switcher 116 can dynamically instruct the first UE to switchbetween using Power Class 1.5 and Power Class 2. However, the UE powerclass data 508 may indicate that a second UE only supports Power Class2, such that the power class switcher 116 is not configured todynamically change the power class of the second UE. The UE power classdata 508 may also indicate that a third UE supports Power Class 2 andPower Class 3, such that the power class switcher 116 can dynamicallyinstruct the first UE to switch between using Power Class 2 and PowerClass 3.

The UE power class data 508 can also indicate a current power class foreach UE. For example, based on the UE capability data 120 indicatingthat the UE 102 supports Power Class 2 and Power Class 1.5, and SIMinformation broadcast indicating that the base station 500 permits UEsto use Power Class 1.5, the base station 500 can infer that the UE 102will initially use Power Class 1.5 upon registration with the basestation 500. The base station 500 can indicate, in a database, table, orother type of UE power class data 508, that the UE 102 is currentlyusing Power Class 1.5. Thereafter, if the power class switcher 116instructs the UE 102 to use Power Class 2, the base station 500 canupdate the UE power class data 508 to indicate that the UE 102 is nowusing Power Class 2. Accordingly, the base station 500 can update the UEpower class data 508 to reflect the UE's current power classes based oninitial power classes used by UEs, and/or later power class changeindicators sent by the base station 500 to the UEs over time.

The UE reports 510 can include data from one or more UE reports, such asUE report 122, collected from one or more UEs over time. For example,the UE 102 may periodically send new UE reports to the base station 500over time. Different UEs may also send in different UE reports. The basestation 500 can store some or all of the received UE reports in thememory 504 for use by the power class switcher 116.

The cell data 512 can include metrics or other KPIs that are measured orderived for a cell associated with the base station 500. For example,the cell data 512 can include an aggregated interference levelassociated with the cell, based on individual SINR measurements includedin UE reports 510 provided by a set of UEs registered with the basestation 500. In some examples, the cell data 512 may also include anindication of how many UEs are currently registered with the basestation 500. The power class switcher 116 may consider the cell data 512in addition to, or instead of, one or more of the UE reports 510 and/orthe UE power class data 508 to determine whether to change the powerclass used by any of the registered UEs.

The memory 504 can further store other modules and data 516, which canbe utilized by the base station 500 to perform or enable performing anyaction taken by the base station 500. The modules and data 516 caninclude a platform, operating system, firmware, and/or applications, anddata utilized by the platform, operating system, firmware, and/orapplications.

The transmission interfaces 506 can include one or more modems,receivers, transmitters, antennas, error correction units, symbol codersand decoders, processors, chips, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), programmable circuit (e.g., field programmable gatearrays), firmware components, and/or other components that can establishconnections with one or more UEs, other base stations or elements of theRAN 104, elements of the core network 106, and/or other networkelements, and can transmit data over such connections. For example, thetransmission interfaces 506 can establish one or more connections withthe UE 102 over air interfaces. The transmission interfaces 506 can alsosupport transmissions using one or more radio access technologies, suchas 5G NR or LTE.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 by which the powerclass switcher 116 can dynamically determine a power class for the UE102. As discussed above, the power class switcher 116 may be an elementof a base station, or other network element of the RAN 104. The powerclass switcher 116 may have information that indicates a set of powerclasses 114 supported by the UE 102, for instance based on UE capabilitydata 120 reported by the UE 102 during network registration. The set ofpower classes 114 can include a first power class with a higher maximumoutput power, and a second power class with a lower maximum outputpower. For example, the first power class can be Power Class 1.5, whilethe second power class can be Power Class 2. The power class switcher116 may also have information indicating which one of the supportedpower classes is currently in use by the UE 102, for instance based onan inference of an initial power class selected by the UE 102 during anetwork registration procedure or based on a previous power class changeindicator provided by the power class switcher 116 to the UE 102.

At block 602, the power class switcher 116 can receive the UE report 122from the UE 102. The UE report 122 can include power data 302,temperature data 304, radio condition data 306, uplink transmission data308, and/or other types of information, as discussed above with respectto FIG. 3 .

At block 604, the power class switcher 116 can determine whether acurrent charge level of the battery 108 is less than a predefinedbattery threshold. The battery threshold may be set at a battery chargelevel of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, or any other level. For example, the powerclass switcher 116 can determine if power data 302 provided by the UE102 in the UE report 122 indicates that the charge level of the battery108 is less than the predefined battery threshold.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the current charge levelof the battery 108 is less than the predefined battery threshold (Block604—Yes), the power class switcher 116 can determine that the UE 102should be using the second power class. Because the second power classhas a lower maximum output power than the first power class, and thecurrent charge level of the battery 108 is less than the predefinedbattery threshold, use of the second power class may assist withpreserving battery life of the battery 108. Accordingly, at block 606,the power class switcher 116 can configure the UE 102 to use the secondpower class, by sending the power class change indicator 118 to the UE102 with a value indicating that the UE 102 should use the second powerclass. In some examples, if the UE 102 is already using the second powerclass, the value of the power class change indicator 118 may indicatethat the UE 102 should continue to use the second power class. However,if the UE 102 is currently using the first power class, the value of thepower class change indicator 118 may indicate that the UE 102 shouldswitch from using the first power class to using the second power class.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the current charge levelof the battery 108 is at or above the predefined battery threshold(Block 604—No), the power class switcher 116 can, at block 608,determine whether a temperature of the UE 102 is above a predefinedtemperature threshold. The temperature threshold may be set at 30° C.,32° C., 35° C., or any other temperature. For example, the power classswitcher 116 can determine if temperature data 304 provided by the UE102 in the UE report 122, or an estimated temperature of the UE 102inferred from power consumption rates and/or other metrics, indicatesthat a temperature of the UE 102 is above the predefined temperaturethreshold.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the temperature of theUE 102 is above the predefined temperature threshold (Block 608—Yes),the power class switcher 116 can determine that the UE 102 should beusing the second power class. Because the second power class has a lowermaximum output power than the first power class, use of the second powerclass may result in the temperature of the UE 102 being cooler than ifthe UE 102 uses the higher maximum output power allowed by the firstpower class. Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 can configure theUE 102 to use the second power class at block 606, by sending the powerclass change indicator 118 to the UE 102 with a value indicating thatthe UE 102 should use the second power class. In some examples, if theUE 102 is already using the second power class, the value of the powerclass change indicator 118 may indicate that the UE 102 should continueto use the second power class. However, if the UE 102 is currently usingthe first power class, the value of the power class change indicator 118may indicate that the UE 102 should switch from using the first powerclass to using the second power class.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the temperature of theUE 102 is at or below the predefined temperature threshold (Block608—No), the power class switcher 116 can, at block 610, determinewhether an amount of uplink data to be sent by the UE 102 is less than apredefined data threshold. In some examples, the predefined datathreshold can be an amount of data, such as 1 MB, 5 MB, or any otheramount of data. In other examples, the predefined data threshold can bean uplink buffer fullness level, such as 75%, 90%, or any other bufferfullness level. For example, the power class switcher 116 can determineif a buffer fullness level provided by the UE 102 in uplink transmissiondata 308 of the UE report 122 indicates that an uplink buffer of the UEis filled to above the predefined data threshold.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the amount of uplinkdata to be sent by the UE 102 is less than the predefined data threshold(Block 608—Yes), the power class switcher 116 can determine that the UE102 should be using the second power class. In this situation, the UE102 may be sending relatively small amounts of data, or may have arelatively low uplink buffer fullness level. As such, the UE 102 may notappreciably benefit from using the higher maximum output power allowedby the first power class relative to the second power class.Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 can configure the UE 102 touse the second power class at block 606, by sending the power classchange indicator 118 to the UE 102 with a value indicating that the UE102 should use the second power class. In some examples, if the UE 102is already using the second power class, the value of the power classchange indicator 118 may indicate that the UE 102 should continue to usethe second power class. However, if the UE 102 is currently using thefirst power class, the value of the power class change indicator 118 mayindicate that the UE 102 should switch from using the first power classto using the second power class.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that the amount of uplinkdata to be sent by the UE 102 at or above the predefined data threshold(Block 610—No), the power class switcher 116 can, at block 612,determine whether one or more radio condition metrics associated withthe UE 102 exceed a predefined radio condition threshold. For example,the power class switcher 116 can determine if a SINR value provided bythe UE 102 in radio condition data 306 of the UE report 122 is above orbelow a predefined threshold SINR value.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that radio condition metricsassociated with the UE 102 exceed a predefined radio condition threshold(Block 608—Yes), the power class switcher 116 can determine that the UE102 should be using the second power class. For example, a SINR valueprovided by the UE 102 may indicate that the UE is experiencingrelatively low interference, and/or that the UE 102 may be locatedoutside or at a position that is relatively close to the base station,such that transmitting uplink signals at up to the lower maximum outputpower permitted by the second power class may sufficiently allow theuplink signals to reach the base station. As such, the UE 102 may notappreciably benefit from using the higher maximum output power allowedby the first power class relative to the second power class.Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 can configure the UE 102 touse the second power class at block 606, by sending the power classchange indicator 118 to the UE 102 with a value indicating that the UE102 should use the second power class. In some examples, if the UE 102is already using the second power class, the value of the power classchange indicator 118 may indicate that the UE 102 should continue to usethe second power class. However, if the UE 102 is currently using thefirst power class, the value of the power class change indicator 118 mayindicate that the UE 102 should switch from using the first power classto using the second power class.

If the power class switcher 116 determines that radio condition metricsassociated with the UE 102 are at or below the predefined radiocondition threshold (Block 612—No), the power class switcher 116 can, atblock 614, determine that the UE 102 should be using the first powerclass. For example, a SINR value provided by the UE 102 may indicatethat the UE is experiencing relatively high interference, and/or thatthe UE 102 may be located inside or at a position that is relatively faraway from the base station, such that transmitting uplink signals at upto the higher maximum output power permitted by the first power classmay be more likely to allow the uplink signals to reach the basestation. Accordingly, the power class switcher 116 can configure the UE102 to use the first power class at block 614, by sending the powerclass change indicator 118 to the UE 102 with a value indicating thatthe UE 102 should use the first power class. In some examples, if the UE102 is already using the first power class, the value of the power classchange indicator 118 may indicate that the UE 102 should continue to usethe first power class. However, if the UE 102 is currently using thesecond power class, the value of the power class change indicator 118may indicate that the UE 102 should switch from using the second powerclass to using the first power class.

The order of operations shown in FIG. 6 is not intended to be limiting,as in other examples the power class switcher 116 may be configured toevaluate the factors shown in FIG. 6 in an order different from theorder shown in FIG. 6 . For example, the power class switcher 116 mayconsider an amount of uplink data to be sent at block 610 and/or radiocondition metrics at block 612 before considering a battery level of theUE 102 at block 604 and/or a temperature of the UE 102 at block 608.

In still other examples, the power class switcher 116 may be configuredto evaluate any or all of the factors shown in FIG. 6 , and/or otherfactors, and assign weights to each factor. The power class switcher 116may accordingly use a weighted combination of the factors to determinewhether to configure the UE 102 to use the second power class at block606 or to configure the UE 102 to use the first power class at block608. For instance, if the battery 108 is at charge level of 50% and theUE 102 is experiencing relatively poor radio conditions, the power classswitcher 116 may weigh the charge level of the battery 108 less than thepoor radio conditions, and determine that the UE 102 should use thefirst power class in an attempt to counteract the poor radio conditions.However, if the battery 108 is at charge level of 15% and the UE 102 isexperiencing similar relatively poor radio conditions, the power classswitcher 116 may weigh the charge level of the battery 108 more heavily,and determine that the UE 102 should use the second power class in anattempt to extend the battery life of the UE 102 despite the relativelypoor radio conditions.

As shown in FIG. 6 , although the UE 102 may support both the firstpower class and the second power class, the power class switcher 116 maytend to configure the UE 102 to use the second power class in situationsin which the charge level of the battery 108 is low, the temperature ofthe UE 102 is high, the UE 102 is sending relatively little uplink data,and/or the UE 102 is experiencing relatively good radio conditions. Inthese situations, the extra uplink output power that the first powerclass may provide over the second power class may be unlikely to resultin appreciable benefits to the UE 102, or to a user of the UE 102, andmay instead result in increased power consumption, faster draining ofthe battery 108, increased heat generation, and/or other appreciabledrawbacks.

However, in other situations in which the charge level of the battery108 is high, the temperature of the UE 102 is low, the UE 102 is sendinga large amount of uplink data, and/or the UE 102 is experiencingrelatively poor radio conditions, the power class switcher 116 may tendto configure the UE 102 to use the first power class. In thesesituations, the extra uplink output power that the first power class mayprovide over the second power class may be more likely to result inappreciable benefits to the UE 102, or to a user of the UE 102, such asimproved signal strengths, improved signal propagation ranges, improvedreliability, higher data transfer speeds, and/or other benefits. Inthese situations, users may be less likely to perceive increased powerconsumption, faster draining of the battery 108, increased heatgeneration, and/or other appreciable impacts associated with using thefirst power class when the charge level of the battery 108 is highand/or the temperature of the UE 102 is low. Even if such impacts arenoticed by users, users may consider such impacts to be an acceptabletradeoff to the improved reliability, higher data transfer speeds, orother benefits of the first power class when the charge level of thebattery 108 is high and/or the temperature of the UE 102 is low.

FIG. 7 shows an example 700 of a computing device 702 that is configuredto generate and provide a power class switcher configuration 704 to thepower class switcher 116. The power class switcher configuration 704 maybe a configuration file that can be used by the power class switcher116, an update to the power class switcher 116, a new version of thepower class switcher 116, or any other type of data that can adjust theoperations of the power class switcher 116. For example, the power classswitcher configuration 704 may adjust which factors are considered bythe power class switcher 116, add or delete factors to be considered bythe power class switcher 116, adjust a relative order of when the powerclass switcher 116 considers different factors, define weightsassociated with different factors overall and/or in differentsituations, adjusts one or more threshold levels used to evaluatedifferent factors, and/or adjusts any other operation or data used bythe power class switcher 116.

The computing device 702 can be a computer, server, or other computingdevice that can execute computer-readable instructions to send the powerclass switcher configuration 704 to the power class switcher 116 at thebase station 500 via a network, such as the telecommunication network.For example, the computing device 702 can have processors, datainterfaces, memory, machine readable media, and/or other computerarchitecture elements similar to the elements of the UE 102 shown inFIG. 4 or the base station 500 shown in FIG. 5 . In some examples, thecomputing device 702 may be operated by an operator of thetelecommunication network, such that the operator can provide the powerclass switcher configuration 704 to adjust how the power class switcher116 dynamically determines which power class the UE 102 should use. Forexample, the computing device 702 may be part of the core network 106,the RAN 104, or any other element of the telecommunication network.

In some examples, the computing device 702 can include, or be associatedwith, a machine learning model 706 that can be trained to generate thepower class switcher configuration 704. The machine learning model 706can be based on support-vector networks, linear regression, logisticregression, nearest-neighbor algorithms, decision trees, recurrentneural networks or other types of neural networks, and/or other machinelearning and/or artificial intelligence techniques.

In some examples, the machine learning model 706 can be trained usingsupervised or unsupervised machine learning based on historical UE data708. The historical UE data 708 may include copies of UE reports 510previously received from a set of UEs. The historical UE data 708 mayinclude power data 302, temperature data 304, radio condition data 306,and/or uplink transmission data 308 associated with the set of UEs,along with data indicating which power classes the UEs were using attimes that the power data 302, temperature data 304, radio conditiondata 306, and/or uplink transmission data 308 were reported. The machinelearning model 706 can evaluate such factors in the historical UE data708, and determine which factors should be considered by the power classswitcher 116 in which situations, determine weights to assign to thosefactors in those situations, determine an order in which the power classswitcher 116 should evaluate the factors, and/or otherwise determine howthe power class switcher 116 should evaluate factors. The machinelearning model 706 can accordingly generate the power class switcherconfiguration 704 to indicate the identified factors, weights for thefactors, values for thresholds, and/or other adjustments to how thepower class switcher 116 operates.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specificfeatures or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and actsdescribed above are disclosed as example embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, by a basestation of a telecommunication network, that a user equipment (UE)supports a first power class and a second power class, wherein the firstpower class permits the UE to perform uplink transmissions at a higheroutput power level than the second power class; determining, by the basestation, that the UE is configured to use the first power class;receiving, by the base station and from the UE, a UE report indicatingone or more UE metrics; determining, by the base station, to dynamicallychange the UE from using the first power class to using the second powerclass, based at least in part on the UE report; and instructing, by thebase station, the UE to use the second power class.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein instructing the UE to use the second power classcomprises including, by the base station, a power class change indicatorassociated with an identifier of the UE in a radio frame transmitted bythe base station.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the power classchange indicator is a bit included in Physical Downlink Control Channel(PDCCH) information of the radio frame.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein instructing the UE to use the second power class comprisestransmitting, by the base station to the UE, a radio resource control(RRC) reconfiguration message that instructs the UE to use the secondpower class.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining,by the base station, that a UE battery level measurement included in theUE report is below a battery threshold, wherein the base stationdetermines to dynamically change the UE from using the first power classto using the second power class based at least in part on determiningthat the UE battery level measurement is below the battery threshold. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the basestation, that a UE temperature measurement included in the UE reportexceeds a temperature threshold, wherein the base station determines todynamically change the UE from using the first power class to using thesecond power class based at least in part on determining that the UEtemperature measurement exceeds the temperature threshold.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more UE metrics includes one or more of:a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), a throughputmeasurement, or an uplink buffer fullness level.
 8. The method of claim7, further comprising: determining, by the base station, weightscorresponding with the one or more UE metrics; and determining, by thebase station, a weighted combination of the one or more UE metrics basedon the weights, wherein the base station determines to dynamicallychange the UE from using the first power class to using the second powerclass based at least in part on the weighted combination.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein: the one or more UE metrics includes one or more of:UE battery level measurement, a UE power consumption rate, a UEtemperature measurement, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio(SINR), a throughput measurement, or an uplink buffer fullness level,and the weights are determined based on a machine learning model trainedon historical data indicating correlations between the one or more UEmetrics.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station determinesto dynamically change the UE from using the first power class to usingthe second power class, based further on amounts of other UEs connectedto the base station that are using the first power class and the secondpower class.
 11. A base station of a telecommunication network,comprising: one or more processors; memory storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations comprising: determiningthat a user equipment (UE) supports a plurality of power classesassociated with uplink transmissions; determining that the UE isconfigured to use a first power class of the plurality of power classes;receiving, from the UE, a UE report indicating one or more UE metrics;determining to dynamically change the UE from using the first powerclass to using a second power class of the plurality of power classes,based at least in part on the UE report; and instructing the UE to usethe second power class.
 12. The base station of claim 11, whereininstructing the UE to use the second power class comprises including apower class change indicator associated with an identifier of the UE ina radio frame transmitted by the base station.
 13. The base station ofclaim 12, wherein the power class change indicator is a bit included inPhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) information of the radioframe.
 14. The base station of claim 11, wherein instructing the UE touse the second power class comprises transmitting a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) reconfiguration message that instructs the UE to use thesecond power class.
 15. The base station of claim 11, wherein the one ormore UE metrics include at least a UE battery level measurement and a UEtemperature measurement.
 16. One or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that,when executed by one or more processors of a radio access networkelement, cause the one or more processors to perform operationscomprising: determining that a user equipment (UE) supports a pluralityof power classes associated with uplink transmissions; determining thatthe UE is configured to use a first power class of the plurality ofpower classes; receiving, from the UE, a UE report indicating one ormore UE metrics; determining to dynamically change the UE from using thefirst power class to using a second power class of the plurality ofpower classes, based at least in part on the UE report; and instructingthe UE to use the second power class.
 17. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 16, wherein instructing the UE to usethe second power class comprises including a power class changeindicator associated with an identifier of the UE in a radio frametransmitted by the radio access network element.
 18. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the powerclass change indicator is a bit included in Physical Downlink ControlChannel (PDCCH) information of the radio frame.
 19. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein instructingthe UE to use the second power class comprises transmitting a radioresource control (RRC) reconfiguration message that instructs the UE touse the second power class.
 20. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the one or more UE metricsinclude at least a UE battery level measurement and a UE temperaturemeasurement.